so i did go watch the duchess
by myself on monday night. i
enjoyed it and there’s a great
review of the film by david batista
here. i agree with him on all points.
i do have one (spoiler) comment
to add. so skip if you don’t like spoilers…
in the climax scene, the duke challenges
the duchess by saying if you continue
to have this affair with grey, you will never
see your children again. and she tells him
to go away, refusing to return to london
and their home.
i was surprised because she did love
her children, and it was very bold of
her to refuse to succumb to his threats.
at the same time, i thought that in doing
this, she was, in fact, giving up her children
to be with her lover.
in the next scene, she returns to london
to be with her children and continues to
play the role of duchess to the duke.
i really needed to see more of an internal
struggle from her between these two
scenes, as this was too abrupt. i think it
robbed us of tension and character insight.
/end spoiler
other than that, it was a lavish film.
and i do love historicals, to watch and
to read. the curious thing is i never liked
studying history as a student. i thought
it was very dry, dead and boring. perhaps
because it was always more about events
than people?
i had my first one on one session
with a mac expert today on iwork pages.
you can import and export all documents
as .doc files, which is fantastic. and it
is set up very similarly to word, but with
a more intuitive interface. i’m all ready
to go for nanowrimo starting next saturday!
i’m also looking to buy photoshop for
my art and picture book work. it’s been
less than a week and i’m utterly enchanted
by my macbook pro. hurrah!
happy weekend, all!
*portrait of the duchess of devonshire
by joshua reynolds.
edited to add : i have something special for
monday’s post. stay tuned… =D
13 Comments
Yay! Glad you liked it, Cindy. I knew you would. :) And thanks for the link-up.
Yes, I had the same issue you did with that scene. At first I was like: wait, what happened? Why would she spurn him if her kids are at stake? And then the very next scene she’s back with the duke again. Huh? So what happened to her adamant refusal? Why and when did she change her mind?
I’m sure there’s a deleted scene or two on the editing room floor that was supposed to show this. Maybe the DVD will shed some light?
i saw it a couple of weeks ago, and i really liked it, too.
my biggest gripe was that, in the end, she would be giving up some of her children no matter what… so why not stay with her lover? (i guess it was better for his career and the future of england that she didnt, yadda yadda. but still.)
i thought the woman who played bess was very beautiful, and i was very upset when she let georgiana down. very, very upset. maybe i don’t understand, because i don’t have children?
Eww, now I’m going to have to watch it. I can never relate to giving up my kids for a man though. Sorry, just would never happen for me.
I always told my kids to call me “Mom” and when they said other people call their parents by their first name, I said, “Anyone can call me Kim, but there are only three people in the world who can call me ‘Mom’.”
That’s the way I feel, there are so many men in the world but so few kids are my children.
Cindy,
Re: your edit
Oooh, I’ve got my money on it being the offfical cover artwork for Silver Phoenix. :)
Can’t wait for Monday!
So looking forward to seeing that film!
I use a MacBook Pro and, despite some annoying hardware problems recently, I absolutely love it. :)
I’m not sure if I want to see the Dutchess…but it might be a good movie rental :-) OMG, do you have the cover art to share??? I can’t wait!!!!
david, your review was spot on. and NO i don’t have the cover to share on monday. thanks for starting rumors, david. haha!
BUT i’m super excited that you and angie are super excited to see. i can’t wait to share, either. i think…soon! eeee!
moonie, why do you think she’d lose her kids anyway? you mean, when they grow up? and i think most moms would find it very hard to part with their bubs. just ask momrat. and you’ll know when you have your own rabid monkey rat babies. haha! =D
mary, say it ain’t so! i did buy the warranty!
angie, thanks for your excitement! but no cover on monday…i hope soon!!!!
You’re so smart to do the classes–I always end up not knowing how to use the cool features on my electronics because it takes too much time to figure out.
And dang, when I saw that comment I got all excited that maybe it was your cover, too ; ) Still, I’ll look forward to Monday regardless!
I would have gone to see it with you! I doubt our dinky old theater will be playing it, and I rarely get the chance to go to the movies, anyway, so it’ll be a rental for me.
“something special” — nice ploy in getting more bloggy traffic! ;-)
Your grandmother was absolutely beautiful! And that photo is just lovely. Thanks for the review on The Duchess! I can’t wait to hear your news tomorrow!
I’ll have to check that one out! Thanks for the tip!
christy
kiersten, soon i hope for the cover! =D the classes were $99 for a year, a class a week! i doubt i’ll do that, but i’ll certainly get my money back!
amber, do you think the ploy will work?! =D
maggie, i think she was lovely, too. and i think you’ll enjoy the duchess!
whoops, missed you christy! let me know what you think if you go see it!